By now, we've seen many benchmark results and reviews showing the breakthrough performance of Apple's new M1 chip for Macs, but the improvements are even more impressive when coupled with battery life metrics.
TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino compiled the open source code for Safari's browser engine WebKit on a variety of Macs, and as has come to be expected, M1-based models completed the task quicker than Intel-based models.
For example, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 compiled WebKit in 20 minutes and 43 seconds, more than twice as fast as the latest Intel-based 13-inch MacBook Pro, which took 46 minutes and 10 seconds. In fact, the M1-based MacBook Pro's performance in the test was almost exactly on par with the 2019 Mac Pro.
The only exception was the MacBook Air, which was bested by the 2019 Mac Pro by about five minutes in the test, as thermal throttling eventually kicks in on the notebook due to its fanless design. It's still impressive that Apple's entry-level $999 notebook performs within the ballpark of its professional desktop workstation, which starts at $5,999, and makes it exciting to see what Apple Silicon will deliver in higher-end Macs.
As mentioned, things get really impressive when battery life is considered. After the WebKit compiling was finished on the various Macs, the M1-based MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro each had 91% battery life remaining, compared to 61% on a high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro and just 24% on the Intel-based 13-inch MacBook Pro.
All in all, Apple's promise that its chips would deliver industry-leading performance-per-watt appears to be holding up. Panzarino's review has lots of other useful charts and benchmarks and is worth a read as customers wait for their new Macs to arrive.
Sunday November 17, 2024 5:18 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development.
Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag.
Timing
Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
Sunday November 17, 2024 3:03 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false.
The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
Wednesday November 13, 2024 2:09 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 next month, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well....
Monday November 18, 2024 1:07 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said he agrees with a recent rumor claiming that the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" will be around 6mm thick.
"We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model," he wrote.
If that measurement proves to be accurate, there would be ...
Sunday November 17, 2024 12:33 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
It appears that Apple is discontinuing the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter that it released alongside the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in 2016.
The adapter was recently listed as "sold out" on Apple's online store in the U.S. and most other countries, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The adapter remains available from Apple in only a handful of countries, such as...
Sunday November 17, 2024 5:27 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Between around 2009 and 2011, it was repeatedly rumored that Apple would be releasing a TV, but that obviously never happened.
Now, a decade-and-a-half later, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says the idea is back on the table.
In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman briefly mentioned that Apple has been "evaluating" the "idea of making an Apple-branded TV set." He did not provide any further...
It is SO HARD to wait for the upcoming iMacs right now.
But I know it's the right thing to do. I've always had an iMac, always found it was the perfect computer for me. I cannot let my impatience win on me haha
